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The Pedagogical Value of the Screwtape Letters for a New Generation Inklings Forever Volume 8 A Collection of Essays Presented at the Joint Meeting of The Eighth Frances White Ewbank Article 3 Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends and The C.S. Lewis & The Inklings Society Conference 5-31-2012 The edP agogical Value of The crS ewtape Letters for a New Generation Brenton Dickieson University of Prince Edward Island Follow this and additional works at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Dickieson, Brenton (2012) "The eP dagogical Value of The crS ewtape Letters for a New Generation," Inklings Forever: Vol. 8 , Article 3. Available at: https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol8/iss1/3 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis & Friends at Pillars at Taylor University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Inklings Forever by an authorized editor of Pillars at Taylor University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INKLINGS FOREVER, Volume VIII A Collection of Essays Presented at the Joint Meeting of The Eighth FRANCES WHITE EWBANK COLLOQUIUM ON C.S. LEWIS & FRIENDS and THE C.S. LEWIS AND THE INKLINGS SOCIETY CONFERENCE Taylor University 2012 Upland, Indiana The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation Brenton Dickieson University of Prince Edward Island Dickieson, Brenton. “The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation.” Inklings Forever 8 (2012) www.taylor.edu/cslewis 1 The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation Brenton Dickieson University of Prince Edward Island Introduction keynote address by Screwtape to one of Dr. Slubgob’s graduating class at the Tempters' Seventy years ago, C.S. Lewis’ The Training College (Lewis 1959). Not only did Screwtape Letters launched the public career he prefer not to continue on the Screwtape of this quiet Oxford don.1 In doing so, he tradition himself, Lewis resisted some inaugurated a genre of demonic epistolary responses to the Letters. One fan, a Mr. Smoot, fiction, where “good” is only good from the created an index that, if printed with the perspective of the demon who is trying to book, Lewis thought would give away the devour the soul of the human. Lewis’ inverse “joke” (Hooper 2004, 758). Lewis also perspective approach inspired dozens of rejected a proposal by BBC editor and writers interested in Christian formation and playwright Lancelot Sieveking to adapt The theological conversation. With ever- Screwtape Letters for the stage. Lewis increasing copycats and millions of copies suggested he would be better as a literary sold, The Screwtape Letters has made an influence: “All he really wants,” Lewis impact. asserted, “is the general diabolical But does it remain relevant to today, framework” (Hooper 2004, 925). seventy years later and an entire worldview It appears that Lewis’ “general away? Based on two teaching units of a single diabolical framework” caught on. The first religious studies class, I argue that The Screwtape Letter was published in the Screwtape Letters are relevant, both in genre Anglican periodical, The Guardian, on May 2, and content, even at a secular undergraduate 1941, and was followed in print on February school with mostly generically spiritual, 9, 1942. Struck by the book, popular mystery nonreligious, agnostic, or atheistic students. author Dorothy L. Sayers began a From the results of a spiritual perspective conversation with Lewis through letters. A survey and various teaching methods, and year later, Sayers sent Lewis an advanced including the analysis of 95 student-crafted copy of her plays, The Man Born to Be King, Screwtape-styled letters reflecting upon their accompanied by a Screwtape-styled letter own culture, we see that the genre of demonic where Sluckdrib is the newly assigned epistolary fiction is useful for giving space to demon, Screwtape the mentor, and Sayers creative cultural critique and the content herself the patient—what Lewis calls the provides inspiration for that critique. human victim of temptation. In literary self- deprecation, Sluckdrib’s assessment of Sayers Screwtape Letters in History is a kind of epistolary confession: Although C.S. Lewis disliked writing The effect of writing these plays from Screwtape’s perspective (Hooper 2004, upon the character of my patient is 830), he does provide his own second wholly satisfactory. I have already had attempt, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” a the honor to report intellectual and 2 The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation · Brenton Dickieson spiritual pride, vainglory, self- apologetic books.4 In conversation with opinionated dogmatism, irreverence, students, some of the declared atheists or blasphemous frivolity, frequentation of outspoken anti-theists knew of his the company of theatricals, apologetics, and evangelical students had captiousness, impatience with heard him quoted in their churches, through correction, polemical fury, shortness of social media, or in other books. There are a temper, neglect of domestic affairs, lack few evangelicals and conservative Christians of charity, egotism, nostalgia for secular within the Centre for Christianity and Culture occupations, and a growing tendency to at UPEI generally, and in the two sections of consider the Bible as Literature the class specifically (possibly twenty to 24 of (Reynolds 2006, 199). 95 students, as we see in Table 1), but very few showed any critical knowledge of Lewis’ Lewis was evidently delighted in the work. letter, suggesting that “the Sluckdrib letter is obviously intended for human consumption,” commenting on its artfulness, and closing Table 1: Religious Landscape with a hope that their own epistolary RS RS 104 PEI Canada Canada US 104 (%) (2001)5 (2006)6 (2031)7 (2011)8 conversation will last indefinitely (Hooper (/95) 2004, 573). Christian 53 55.8% 92.8% 74.8% 64.8% 78.4% Lewis approved of the first Screwtape Catholic 20 21.1% 47.4% 42.5% 36.6% 23.9% copycat letter, but I doubt he could have Protestant 29 30.5% 42.8% 27.6% 21.3% 51.3% Orthodox/ predicted the deluge of similar attempts that 4 4.2% <0.1% 1.7% 2.3% 0.6% E. Catholic 20- 21.1%- 8.3%- would follow. Publications in the genre have Evangelical 12%9 n/a 26.3% 24 25.3% 19.3% proliferated with book treatments and blogs, SNRs 17 17.9% n/a n/a n/a 20%10 Not sometimes by academics and creative writers, 24 25.3% 6.7% 17.5%11 20.9% 16.1% Religious but often clever attempts of bloggers and Agnostic/ 11 11.6% n/a n/a n/a 2.4% Unsure pastors at capturing Christian experience Non- from the inverse perspective.2 With book Christian 3 3.2% <0.1% 7.7% 14.3% 4.7% Religion treatments and blogs, the tradition of demonic epistolary fiction continues among Christians as a form of self-critique and Moreover, while Prince Edward cultural evaluation. While a study of The Island (PEI) has high rates of attendance at Screwtape Letters would make sense in a religious services, at 53% in 2003 with 92.8% Bible college, seminary, catechism, Sunday of people declaring themselves to be school, or Christian university,3 what is its Christian (Clark 2003), it is not a relevance in an interdisciplinary course at a predominantly evangelical province. In the secular university? 2001 Census, 4.5%, 0.7%, and 0.2% were Baptist, Pentecostal, and Christian Reformed Student Profile respectively.12 Other conservative churches and undesignated Christians were recorded I assigned The Screwtape Letters to 95 at 0.5% and 2.4% respectively, making a low students in two subsequent sections (2011 ballpark evangelical count of 8.3%. In Prince and 2012) of the religious studies course Edward Island, Presbyterians (5.9%) and RS104: Myths of Hate and Evil at the Anglicans (4.9%) may or may not classify University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). themselves as conservative or evangelical; While most students knew C.S. Lewis as the including these denominations would extend author of the Chronicles of Narnia, previous the evangelical count to 19.3% (StatsCan to the class very few knew of him as a 2001). The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Christian author. Only two students indicated admits the problems of counting evangelicals they had read The Screwtape Letters previous in Canada, but approximates that 12% of to the class, and no one had read any of Lewis’ Canadians are evangelical (EFC), which lies 3 The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation · Brenton Dickieson within our low and high count of evangelicals that something significant was happening in and indicates that an evangelical cohort of Canadian religion. 1/5-1/4 in RS 104 is higher than average. As the decade continued, however, How do we account for this Bibby (2009) observed a notable shift away statistically interesting difference? We cannot from religious attendance among teens and account for it only by considering that there is young adults, much of which he attributed to a committed religious component within “the failure of three traditionally prominent religious studies—only 14/95 students players to relate well to teenagers: the United studied or intended to study religion at Church, Anglican Church, and Catholic Church UPEI—but I do think that the nature of the in Quebec” (i). Bibby (2009) goes on to argue course material is likely to draw in active that restless Canadians were polarizing in believers as the course asks the big questions their commitment, leading young people to about evil, God, and suffering. I think too, commit fully or disengage entirely. “Religion perhaps, that the distribution of UPEI in Canada is not what it used to be,” Bibby students—of 4600 students in Fall, 2010, argues.
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